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New Report looks at Israel’s detention of Palestinian Children

A new report from the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, states that the number of Palestinian children arrested and imprisoned increased as a result of the Israeli government assault on Gaza in 2014.

From the report’s introduction:

“In July and August of 2014, Gaza held the world’s attention as Israel launched massive air strikes and ground attacks against that part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) over a period of 50 days. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that more than 2100 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli onslaught. This number does not include the many more who were wounded or traumatized as a result of the Israeli offensive. In response to the unrest following the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir and the subsequent war on Gaza, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) intensified human rights violations against Palestinians in East Jerusalem including mass arrests, leading to an increase in the number of Jerusalemite Palestinians held in Israeli detention.

Not so apparent to the rest of the world however, was the lower intensity but nevertheless harsh repression that Israel continued to inflict upon Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2014. While Palestinians suffer many forms of abuse and violence at the hands of Israel, this report concentrates on the detention of children from East Jerusalem between the years 2014-15, the cruel treatment they endured during arrest, detention and interrogation, and the impacts of this treatment on the children, their families, and communities. Furthermore, we examine the legal implications of Israel’s behavior and the political context in which it occurred.”